Segment buff with inclined segements



Nov. 12, 1963 .J. MILLER SEGMENT BUFF WITH INCLINED SEGMENTS 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 22, 1962 INVENTOR. WILL/AM I MILL 56 Nov. 12,1963 w. J. MILLER 3,110,139

SEGMENT BUF'F WITH INCLINED SEGMENTS Filed Jan. 22, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet2 INVENTOR. WILLIAM J? M/LJJE/i BY 7 54 a a4;

United States Patent O 3,110,139 SEGRENT BUFF WITH INQLHQED SEGMENTWilliam J. Miller, Conover, NAIL, assignor to Jackson Butt tlorporation,a corporation of North Carolina Filed Jan. 22, 1952, Ser. No. 167,353 2Qlaims. (Cl. 51-1735) The present invention is directed to a hurlingwheel, and more particularly to a buffing wheel having relatively stiff,finger-like bufi'lng segments that extend outwardy at an inclinationwith respect to a radial position, with all segments inclined in thesame direction, the finger-like butting segments thereby being presentedto an article being buffed at a trailing inclination when the buffingwheel is rotated in the direction opposite to the direction ofinclination.

Butfing wheels having finger-like buffing segments extending radiallyoutwardly are used effectively in butling contoured surfaces as thesegments are substantially individually flexed as they pass across thesurface being buffed and thus each segment will generally follow thecontour of the surface substantially independently of the fiexure of theadjacent segments.

To obtain satisfactory buffing action the individual finger-like bufiingsegments should be relatively stiff so that they will enter andeifectively bull recesses in the surface being buffed. However, due tothe radial positioning of the buffing segments, the surface being butfedapplies a force to the finger-like segments in a direction normal totheir lengths which is the direction of force causing the greatestflexing of the segments. In addition the finger-like constructionrenders the segments particularly susceptible to flexure by a force inthis normal direction.

By the present invention a bufiing Wheel with fingerlike butlingsegments is provided, havin the advantages of prior buffing wheels ofthis type, and in addition providing increased resistance to flexing ofthe individual segments with an accompanying increase in buflingeffectiveness, particularly for contoured surfaces.

This advantage is obtained by a buff construction wherein eachfinger-"ike segment is inclined from a radial position in a directionopposite to the direction of rotation of the butting wheel so that theforce tending to flex the segments, which force is generally tangentialto the bufi, is inclined with respect to the inclined finger-likesegments, and thus the flexing component of the force is reduced inaccordance with the degree of inclination.

A further advantage of this inclined construction is that a more denseand compact bufling wheel can be constructed as the inclinationincreases the circumferential extent of each segment at the periphery ofthe bud. Further compacting can be readily produced with the buff of thepresent invention by arranging the segments in overlapping relation.With the increased peripheral extent of the inclined segments, thisoverlapping of the segments can easily extend t. e full length of thesegments, thereby eliminating cavities in the surface of the buffbetween segments. The elimination of cavities results in a correspondingelimination of streaking and uneven cutting of the surface being buffed.

Additional compactness and stillness may be obtained by a particularoverlapping of the segments wherein each segment overlaps one of theadjacent segments and is similarly overlapped by the other adjacentsegment. This results in the segments being inclined with respect to aradial plane so that when a number of circular sections, each havingthese overlapping segments thereon, are combined in side-by-siderelation to form a composite butfing Wheel the inclined segments of eachsection will extend into the planes of the adjacent sections and will3,1 wish Patented Nov. 12, 1&63

ice

interlock with the similarly inclined segments of the ad jacentsections, providing a substantially solid mass of ending material on thesurface of the buff without cavities between sections.

Other and further advantages and features of the present invention willbe apparent from the following description and drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view, partially broken away, of a buffingwheel section incorporating the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan View of the buffing wheel section of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a View similar to FIG. 2 and showing the positions of a numberof sections combined in a multisection bufling wheel;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a strip or" folded bufiing material used tomake the finger-like bufiing segments of the buffing wheel section ofFIG. 1; and

1G. 5 is an enlarged view of a portion of the boiling Wheel sectionillustration of FIG. 1.

In the embodiment illustrated in the drawings a single butfing wheel orsection it) is constructed with a plurality of relatively narrowfinger-like bufiing segments 12 mounted in and extending outwardly froman annular lacing 14. The finger-like segments 12 are secured togetheradjacent the lacing 14 by circular stitching 16. Outwardly of thestitching 16 the segments 12 are free of securement and capable ofindependent relative flexing. Additional rows of stitching may beutilized to provide increased stilfness, if desired.

The finger-like buffing segments 12 of the embodiment illustrated areformed from a sheet of buffing material, such as cotton, sisal or othertypes of material, and may be formed conventionally with bias cut edges.The sheet is folded upon itself a number of times to form a relativelynarrow strip 18 as illustrated in FIG. 4. The plies of this multi-plyfolded setrip 18 may then be secured together by longitudinal stitching2% which not only holds the plies together but i mparts a stiffness thatincreases the resistance to flexing in a direction normal to the lengthof the strip. The number of rows of stitching 20 may vary from none tosix or more depending on the Width of the segments and the desiredstiffness.

To form the finger-like segments 12 and the strip is cut transversely atspaced distances corresponding to the desired length of the segment. Asseen in FIG. 4 the strip is cut at a slight inclination, such as at 5,to the transverse direction so that the ends 22 of the lengths 12 areinclined slightly with respect to a direction normal to the segments sothat when the segments 12 are mounted on the lacing 14 with their innerends 26 tangentialiy positioned on the lacing 14 the segments 12 willextend in a direction inclined slightly from a radial position and theside edges 24 of the segments will be similarly inclined. The angle atwhich the strip 18 is cut may be varied to provide desired results.Satisfactory results may be obtained using angles in the range of 510,but is is not intended that the present invention be limited to thisrange.

As best seen in PEG. 5 the inner end 26 of each segmerit i2 ispositioned tangentially against the base 28 of the lacing 14 and issecured in place by the gripping teeth 3t? of the lacing with all of theelements 12 similarly placed for inclination of all the segments in thesame direction. The direction of inclination is opposite to (theintended direction of rotation of the bufiing wheel section it} so thatthe segments will strike the surface being buffed at a trailinginclination and the force of the surface being oufied against thesegments will be inclined with respect to a normal direction, therebyreducing the eliective bending force exerted against the segments 12 andreducing 3 the amount of fiexure of the segments for enhanced bullingaction.

As the outer ends 32 of the segments 12 are cut at the same inclinationas the inner ends 26 a saw tooth periphery is formed on the bufdng wheelsections it) as indicated in dotted lines in FIG. 5. if desired, theperiphery of the bull may be trimmed to provide a smooth circularsurface. r

The finger-like bufiing segments 12 are arranged serially around thelacing 14 in overlapping relation to each other. Each segment, such asthe one indicated as 34, overlaps one of the adjacent segments 36 and isitself similarly overlapped by the other adjacent segment 38 with theresult that the segments 12 are inclined slightly from the radial planeof the bufiing wheel section 1%. Due to the previously describedinclination of the segments 12 from radial positions and the amount ofoverlap the segments are in overlapping relation throughout their entirelengths. This provides a solid periphery without any spaces or cavitiesbetween the segments, as seen in FIGS. 2 and 3.

The buffing wheel section ill may be used by itself, but normally aplurality of identical sections are mounted side by side to form acomposite buffing Wheel 49, such as that shown in FIG. 3. Theinclination of the segments 12 from the planes of the sections is ofparticular significance when using the sections in a composite buffingwheel, in which case the inclination results in the segments extendinginto the planes of the adjacent sections and interlocking with thecorresponding segments of these other sections to form a dense compactmass of bufiing material without any cavities between sections.

A typical example of a bufi made in accordance with the presentinvention, but not intended as a limitation to the present invention, isa bull of the type illustrated having an outer diameter of 17 inchesusing an annular lacing of 7 inch inner diameter. The finger-likesegments are each 1% inches wide and 5 /3 inches long. The segments arecut at 21 7 angle and when mounted on the lacing extend at an angle ofapproximately 15 from a radial position, with all segments extending inthe same direction.

The present invention has been described above for purposes ofillustration only, and is not intended to be limited by this descriptionor otherwise except as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A bufiing wheel comprising a plurality of contiguous circular buffsections aligned axially, each bull section havine an annular supportingmember and a plurality of relatively still, individually flexible,finger-like bufiing segments secured to and extending outwardly fromsaid supporting member, said bufiing segments being arranged seriallyabout the periphery of the annular supporting member witheach bufiingsegment partially overlapping one adjacent segment and being partiallyoverlapped by the other adjacent segment to position each segment at aninclination to the plane of its but? section and to extend into theplane of adjacent buff sections in interlocking engagement with theinclined segments of said adjacent burl sections, said boiling segmentsbeing formed firom a strip of longitudinally multi-folded buflingmaterial cut transversely in bufiing segment lengths at an inclinationto a line perpendicular to the length of the strip, one of the cutinclined edges of each bulfing segment being positioned tangentially onthe periphery of the supporting member to dispose each of saidfinger-like bufling seg ments at an inclination from a radial positionwith all segments inclined in the same direction to present thefinger-like segments to an article being bufied at a trailinginclination when the buff is rotated in the direction opposite thedirection of radial inclination.

2. A buffing wheel comprising an annular supporting member, a pluralityof relatively stiff finger-like buffing segments secured to andextending outwardly from said supporting member, each of saidfinger-like buffing segments having an inner end tangentially positionedon the periphery of the supponting member and parallel side edgesextending outwardly from the inner edge at an inclination to a directionnormal to the inner edge, thereby inclining each of said buffingsegments from a radial position, with all segments being inclined in thesame direction to present the finger-like segments to an article beingbufied at a trailing inclination when the buff is rotated in thedirection opposite to the direction of inclination, said buffingsegment-s being formed from a strip of multifolded buifing material cuttransversely in bufiing segment lengths and at an inclination to a lineperpendicular to the side of the strips.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

2. A BUFFING WHEEL COMPRISING AN ANNULAR SUPPORTING MEMBER, A PLURALITYOF RELATIVELY STIFF FINGER-LIKE BUFFING SEGMENTS SECURED TO ANDEXTENDING OUTWARDLY FROM SAID SUPPORTING MEMBER, EACH OF SAIDFINGER-LIKE BUFFING SEGMENTS HAVING AN INNER END TANGENTIALLY POSITIONEDON THE PERIPHERY OF THE SUPPORTING MEMBER AND PARALLEL SIDE EDGESEXTENDING OUTWARDLY FROM THE INNER EDGE AT AN INCLINATION TO A DIRECTIONNORMAL TO THE INNER EDGE, THEREBY INCLINING EACH OF SAID BUFFINGSEGMENTS FROM A RADIAL POSITION, WITH ALL SEGMENTS BEING INCLINED IN THESAME DIRECTION TO PRESENT THE FINGER-LIKE SEGMENTS TO AN ARTICLE BEINGBUFFED AT A TRAILING INCLINATION WHEN THE BUFF IS ROTATED IN THEDIRECTION OPPOSITE TO THE DIRECTION OF INCLINATION, SAID BUFFINGSEGMENTS BEING FORMED FROM A STRIP OF MULTIFOLDED BUFFING MATERIAL CUTTRANSVERSELY IN BUFFING SEGMENT LENGTHS AND AT AN INCLINATION TO A LINEPERPENDICULAR TO THE SIDE OF THE STRIPS.